


Fling

by TrashAYfanfiction



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Bi-Curiosity, Character Study, Cover Art, Horny Teenagers, M/M, Recreational Drug Use, Slice of Life, Young punks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-07-01 06:53:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15768864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrashAYfanfiction/pseuds/TrashAYfanfiction
Summary: 80’s. Bi-curious Shorter. Post Angel Eyes, pre BF. Ash wants to give his friend incentive to stay around, Shorter never needed incentive.





	1. Fling

 

It’s not that Shorter had a thing for him. Shorter had a thing for most pretty things that moved, mostly women, on extremely rare occasions a man. As far as Ash knew, he’d never done it with a man. Shorter tended to keep those attractions as open jokes. “I’d let him suck my dick,” and so forth. Ash knew he fell into that category.

 

Ash wasn’t used to having friends; didn’t know how to maintain friendships. Aside from Griff, the only people who wanted him around wanted him for sex. He couldn’t blame them, he only wanted people around who provided a use. There was no point putting effort into people who didn’t provide a direct benefit.

 

Shorter wasn’t different. After meeting the boy in juvie, Ash saw no use to the Chinese boy. Still, Shorter insisted on hanging around.

 

Ash was well versed in gifts being given as a prerequisite to being indebted to return a favor. He used that relationship with Golzine to the fullest. Sex led to favoritism, favoritism led him to being exclusively for Golzine, Golzine gave him gifts; so he put more effort into sex.

Shorter only offered him attention, but Ash doubted Shorter had anything else to give seeing as he was a first generation immigrant street punk.

They had been friends for two years now. It was still a significantly one sided friendship, Shorter would give and Ash would take. Ash felt a level of trust for the other, seeing as if the other wanted something huge, he would have asked for it by now.

Shorter had asked things of him, sure, but small favors like, “Stand lookout while I shoplift this thing,” Or “Hey, can ya gimme a boost? I can’t reach that cracked window up there,”. One time he asked Ash to help track down the guy who stole his weed. Ash refused. It was too much effort.

All the favors he asked were low cost to Ash, and they weren’t always directly repaid, but Shorter would bring him a soda, or an old video game, or whatever interesting he had in his pocket at the time. Ash would accept with a nod and a blank stare, but curiously amused at the irrelevant gifts he was given.

One time Shorter invited him over because the local street cat behind the restaurant had kittens. He looked at the brown striped mother cat tending to her three offspring and felt an urge to touch her. Shorter told him it was ok, that this cat was tame and used to humans due to feeding her scraps from the Chang Dai. She was soft and she purred at his contact. Ash came back every few days, even without Shorter, to watch the cat.

He watched the kittens open their eyes and become rough and tumble balls of fluff. The mother cat would rub against his legs as he squatted down in the alley way. He didn’t dare pick her up, but one time she crawled into his lap and purred as they watched the kittens playing. Eventually two of the kittens died, he assumed, because one day they just weren’t there anymore. The mother cat was even more protective of her last remaining kitten. Anxiously dancing around it even when Ash was in sight.

He watched as the remaining kitten grew up to be an adolescent.

One day Ash heard yowls in an alley close to Chang Dai. He found the mother cat being tortured by a group of boys a few years younger than him. She was growling and hissing, they had cut her hears and broken one of her limbs. Her body was wet from a puddle. They were jeering each other on. One of them was bitten, recoiling and holding his thumb before hitting the small animal.

Ash was enraged. He beat the boys. Gave two of the three bloody noses, and the last a black eye. He kicked them as they went running home. His heart hurt.

He approached the weakly moving animal. She was weezing. He crouched down and she purred at the sight of him. Her hind legs no longer moved as she tried to crawl to his lap. She was covered in blood and street dirt.

Ash tried to comfort her. She meowed from pain. He sat with her for fifteen minutes. He decided to strangle her to put her out of her misery. He cried. She was too weak to resist.

He cried when he told Nadia and Shorter she was gone. Shorter told him it was okay, because Nadia cried too.

Shorter named the last kitten Jade. The kitten didn’t seem to mind it’s mother was gone.

 

Shorter was like that. He didn’t cry, he floated through life on an adrenaline high (or drug high, hookup pending). If he had pain he was good at not dwelling on it, where Ash was content to sit and wallow. He was good at making others feel better. He helped pull Ash out of those dark moments with fun, humor, and outlook to future.

 

He owed Shorter for that.

 

Which is why on this blazed up drunk movie night at Nadia’s above Chang Dai he made his move. The apartment smelled of incense and the couch had a tacky red crochet tapestry hung down the center to cover a hole in the upholstery. The walls were thin and they could easily hear the sounds of Saturday night over their movie. The VHS whirred and the tv flickered with noise over the less than stellar picture quality. The sound was poorly recorded, but the small appliance’s speakers made it crackle even more. Shorter’s socked feet rested on the coffee table with the bowl, lighter, and bottle of Fireball Whiskey they’d been sharing. Pork rinds and takeout boxes littered the floor.

After a hit he pulled the mohawked punk on top of him, fisting his denim vest, giggly breathing smoke into his mouth. He was going to attempt his charm through this haze of intoxication, he’d never done this intentionally before.

“Remember when we first met? You said I looked like the angel on a Christmas card?”

Shorter grunted, taken off guard. “Kinda, I remember you were scary as all hell too,”

Ash laughed, “I hope I am to most people. But remember what you said? You said you used to jerk off to that card,”

Shorter coughed, “Heeyy! That was a long time ago and I was desperate,”

Ash smirked, “Was that your way of saying you’d jerk off to me?”

Shorter’s cheeks were pink, Ash pressed his face closer, “You can, you know, I don’t mind. I like you, Shorter,”

Shorter laughed, “I’ve seen what you did to other guys, this is a trap isn’t it?”

Ash pouted, “This isn’t a trap, this is repaying you for being nice to me.”

The Asian boy took a moment to study the other’s face, “Are you planning on leaving? Is that why you need to pay me back?”

“No, but I want to give you something nice,”  Ash balled his fist into Shorter’s grimy shirt, “Do you want to kiss me?”

The other boy paused, hesitated….. did he want to kiss Ash? …..Fuck yes. He grabbed the whiskey bottle and gunned a few shots before claiming the beckoning mouth.

The smaller boy squirmed at the taste, he opened his legs and let the other rut against him. The couch squeaked. Ash pulled Shorter’s shirt up and undid his belt and fly. The button to his tight ripped jeans was broken off.

“Do you want me to do anything to you?” Ash gasped when he was finally let up for air. Shorter looked like he hit the jackpot and didn’t know what to do with it, dazed from lust and drugs. Ash pulled those ever-present sunglasses off to look into his bloodshot eyes.

“I hear you give a good blowjob,”

“I can give you that,’ Ash sat up and began to situate himself.

“Wait,” Shorter stopped him with hand on the shoulder, “If you do that, I won’t want to kiss you anymore,”

“Is kissing that much of a priority to you?”

“Yes,” Shorter looked offended, then offhandedly offered Ash the bowl and a lighter. Obligingly Ash took the hit.

“I just don’t want to taste myself,”

“You talk too much,” The blonde opened his own fly, “I’m trying to do something nice and you cockblock me. Would you like to fuck me instead? You can kiss me while you fuck me.”

Shorter’s blush spread down his neck.

“Should I take that as a yes?”

The punk’s lips met again. Ash let his jeans drop and pried Shorter’s jeans farther open.

“How can your dick even breathe? I can see why you wouldn’t want to kiss me after going down on your sweaty cock.”

Ash shimmied out of his own jeans, not nearly as tight as the other’s. He didn’t like people looking at him.

He stroked Shorter, who moaned into his mouth. He smirked in amusement, it was always nice to know he was good. Though, granted, Shorter was known to get it up when a pretty girl looked at his side of the room or when the breeze blew the right way.

He let the boy make out with him a bit more, before leaving to get the lotion he knew Nadia kept in the bathroom, kisses staying on his face and neck. Shorter whined at being ushered to let him up, and slumped dejected on the couch, stroking himself as he watched Ash leave, tight white underwear clinging to slim hips that tantalizingly round butt. Shorter would make it his mission to get Ash some tight jeans, shopkeepers beware.

Ash returned, shucking off his underwear and spreading the liquid on his hand before starting with two fingers.

“I want to do that….” Shorter whined, Ash looked up at him.

“Do you know what you’re doing?”

“I’ve done it with girls a few times,”

“Have you done anal with girls a few times? This isn’t like a pussy, I’m not going to get wet on my own,”

“That’s what I said, I’m not a moron.” Shorter leaned over him, gesturing for Ash to put some lotion on his hand.

“Wait,” Shorter groaned as Ash went to fish a few more things out of his coat. A small foil square and a bottle of what looked to be pills.

“I don’t want to use a rubber, Ash. Don’t make me.” The whining was terrible. “I’m not going to get you pregnant,”

“It helps with the friction,”

“But it feeeels weiirrd,”

“An STD is gonna feel even weirder,”

Shorter stopped. “…..You don’t have one do you?” He knew that his friend slept around, on the receiving end with men… it was a high risk.

“At this point, would it stop you if I did?”

Shorter grudgingly put the condom on, fumbling with it.

“Do you need some help?” Ash was amused, but this was taking longer than necessary.

“No, I gotta get you ready first,” He set the unwrapped condom aside, coated his fingers in lotion, and after only a moment of navigation, stuck them in Ash.

Ash let out a strangled noise, “You’re going fast,”

“Shut up, I want to kiss you,” Shorter pumped his fingers in and out of the other, playing with his rim, circling it with his index finger, flicking it, before adding a third finger.

Ash let his legs fall open as he was played with. Cracking open the pill bottle and inhaling the poppers. He let the relaxation wash over him, concentrating on the distant feeling of his friend’s over eager hands fucking him. He didn’t mind this, Shorter wasn’t cruel. He wanted to give Shorter something, and this was the best thing he knew.

He was naked except for his Tshirt. His male chest might kill Shorter’s illusion of him being an androgynous angel. The other had seen him naked before, but had yet to touch his cock. Not an entirely uncommon occurrence. Several of the men he slept with preferred lying to themselves, pretending he was a girl on days they just couldn’t take what they were doing.

His fingers were still slick with the makeshift lube. He wrapped them around Shorter’s cock. Skinny hips thrust forward for more contact, sliding in and out of his hand.

Ash smiled, Shorter was enjoying this. His lips were numb from the drugs, the biting, and kissing. He tangled his freehand in that long Mohawk, urging the other boy to keep going.

They stayed like that for a while. Ash stroking him feverishly, the other’s fingers spreading him. He sped up his paced and brushed his thumb over the tip, playing with the piece of metal he found there. He smirked at the thought of Shorter doing his own piercing. All the random bitching and hesitant movements a few months ago all made sense now.

“Tell me when you want to stick it in,”

“Not yet, Keep going,” Shorter was breathless.

Ash tightened his grip, and the man above him spasmed and came. Franticly bucking his hips, partially on his friend’s thigh, partially on the couch.

Ash would have laughed. People teased Shorter about having a hair trigger. Perhaps it was all the drugs and alcohol that slowed it down and gave him any stamina at all.

Finger still inside him, the boy collapsed on top of him. The blonde evaluated his panting face, Shorter caught the look out of the corner of his eye and smiled hazily.

“…You didn’t come yet,”

“It’s okay,”

“If I keep fingering you, will you come?”

“Maybe,”

Shorter looked like he was eager for the challenge and twitched his fingers. Ash decided to make it easy for him.

“Curl your fingers upwards. Drag them along the top wall,”

“Like your G-spot?”

“I’m surprised you know what that is, but yes, like that,” Honestly Ash had no idea if touching a prostate was at all like touching a G-spot, he’d never been with a girl. It seemed wrong to guilt girls into things they didn’t want to do, and the girls who were forward with him wanted something….. Sometimes they were just desperate for human contact.

He was like those girls.

“Aa-ah!” Shorters fingers eventually found the spot, he was relentless, “Right there,”

He came, covering his dick with his hand as to help contain the string of semen. Shorter kissed his cheek as his body withered from pleasure.

They lay on top of each other in the afterglow, cum cooling on Ash’s body. They weren’t exactly in each other’s arms, but this wasn’t bad. Ash called it off when Shorter started snoring, ushering the other boy up and off him, languidly making his way to the small bathroom to piss and clean up. He threw a wet washcloth to Shorter.

He stayed the night on the floor on a futon. Shorter slept on the couch. There was only one bedroom in the apartment, and that’s where Nadia slept, where used to be their parents room. She didn’t seem to notice anything amyss, other than scolding them for the mess, the weed, and the empty whiskey bottle.

In the morning he had breakfast with them, interacting like they’d always had.

He never brought it up. It happened a few more times before Eiji arrived; short flings. When they were intoxicated, when Ash was feeling bad about himself. Shorter never initiated it. Whether or not Shorter actually caught what was going on, he never said. He let Ash assuage his insecurities, and he was able to work off some steam of his own.

Shorter supposed that was friends with benefits. He was never jealous of Eiji, in fact, he was happy his friend finally found a partner, who not only wanted nothing, but was strong enough to not be twisted.

 

 


	2. Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes place about a week before he first meets Eiji. This one is more Shorter’s POV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I re-read Angel Eyes specifically for the end of this fic. I like how Shorter acknowledges how scary Ash is, and the emotional distance Ash has from him and other people. I WANT ANGEL EYES ANIMATED AS A ONE SHOT ...which we likely won’t get, but I want it. Angel Eyes, in itself, even without reading BF is an amazing manga.
> 
> ....being a grad student is hard, and I'm a slow writer anyways. I want to post more. I have all the ideas but no time. Yay for this being my first multi-chapter fic.

The last time they did it, they were leaning against a bridge railing in central park, absentmindedly throwing things into the water. It was 2am, nobody was around. Even the homeless man bumbling a few hundred yards away had vanished, probably sleeping in his newspaper covered box. He was yet another Nam vet; hooked on drugs, his mental issues out of hand, his PTSD controlling his life. His name was Jerald. Ash talked with him sometimes, but it somberly reminded him of what Griff likely would have been like even without a bad drug messing him up. War was an awful thing. People were pathetic.

Shorter shook the can of spray-paint in his pocket, debating tagging the bridge.

Ash interrupted his thoughts, “Hey, Did you ever want that blowjob I offered or what?”

Shorter turned to him, playing with the top of his spray-paint can. “Well that was out of nowhere. Horney much?”

“I’m feeling frisky,” Ash let his knees fall out from under him, and kissed Shorter’s midriff. The other only wore an open vest instead of a shirt, “You want it?” He gripped his friend’s studded belt.

He glanced down from his spot still leaning against the bridge. Ash was crotch level, between him and the railing. The faint haze of a distant streetlight flickered off Ash’s hair.

Ash smirked at him and stuck out his tongue, making a lewd face and gestures indicative of a blowjob.

“You’re not going to do it right here, are you?”

The other smiled devilishly, “There’s no one around,”

Glancing around confirmed what he knew a few minutes ago. It’s not that he didn’t want to. Honestly he was usually up for sex anytime anywhere… Maybe he was overthinking things with Ash. It was just a fling. They did it to have fun. It didn’t mean anything. Ash didn’t love anyone, and Shorter didn’t want a relationship with a guy. This was a fling. It felt good. Shorter couldn’t deny he was hard at the proposition.

“Yes,”

Ash took his weak smile as permission to unbutton the others pants and pull his dick out.

“It’s kind of gross,” Shorter apologized. He’d showered that morning, but it’d been all day.

Ash sucked on the head, tugging the ring with his teeth, clicking his tongue. “You’re not the worst I’ve had,”

Shorter grunted at the twist, “I don’t really want to think about all the guys you’ve blown, especially when you’re going down on me,” His blonde friend hadn’t broken eye contact and seemed elated teasing the other. “You’ve had to have bitten at least one guy’s dick,”

He shrugged and opened his mouth and let the other’s member rest on his outstretched tongue, casually flicking it. He had a distant yet reckless look in his eyes, like not only didn’t he care what happened to him, but he didn’t care about anything at all. He wanted to see how far this would take him.

This was the first time they’d done it without aid of drugs. The weed from a few hours ago had all but worn off. For the first time doing these things, he attentively focused on Ash. His blonde hair, soft features, those green eyes that sometimes pierced to the soul, but were now lethargic….. Always hiding a pain that Shorter could never pinpoint and would never ask about. He assumed it had to do with the other being gay and unable to deal with it. He knew a few homeless kids turning tricks who’d been kicked out for being gay. After something like that, it would make sense to assume the whole world was out to get you…which it was, for everyone regardless, for various reasons. He remembered some men Ash had killed in front of him, he was a terrifying war god.

A lively smack to his hip brought him back to reality. “Hey, look at me,” Ash was pouting. A trap, Shorter assumed, though not a trap like what was laid for most men.

At the very least, the playfulness was a lie. An act, but Shorter was too weak to resist getting lost in those eyes. His friend was beautiful, regardless of the reason behind his willingness.

His eyes. His evil green eyes. Many had compared them to a demon or other hellish creature, saying they were red if you saw them right. Shorter didn’t believe they were the eyes of a demon, but at the very least, they were the eyes of a wild animal.

Ash who could kill him in a split second. Who had killed men for even suggesting he do what they were doing now… This terrifying murder doll.

It didn’t sit right with him why this was allowed to happen. He wanted to leave. None of this was right…. But then lips were around him and his cock decided the added danger was all the more arousing. That talented mouth was in his head, and oh god, it was the best thing he’d ever felt. His lips were cool and soft, irresistibly delicate, plush…. He squeezed his eyes shut, and tried to resist putting a hand down to encourage the other boy. ….and maybe ground himself, remind him that this other boy was his friend.

The other must have noticed. He gently took the Shorter’s wrist, and guided it to his hair.

His mind screamed, ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you for choosing me,’

His arousal was mixed with his nerves. The knot in his stomach was told him no and yes at the same time.

He tried not to look. He tried to tell himself this isn’t what he wanted.

He flinched, causing the movement to slow, eventually pulling off with a sluggish ‘pop’.

“Why are you holding back?” Those green eyes rolled up to look at him,

Fear, he thinks those eyes were afraid. Concerned blonde brows were knitted, wrinkles marring an immaculate forehead.

His fingertips resting beside his friend’s throat, he thought he felt heartrate increase.

“Do you not want this?” Yes, that was fear in his eyes. Though not fear of Shorter.

Fear of himself?

He swallowed his nerves. It was a silly feeling. Ash didn’t do things he didn’t want to, and…

“Keep going, It feels amazing,”

Hesitantly the other kissed the underside of the shaft, watching Shorter more closely this time before taking him into his mouth. He reached his hand around to grope the punk’s buttock, holding him still, urging him forward.

The warm slick was incomparable. His finger’s tangled in Ash’s hair. And then the sounds the blonde made…. His braid was overridden with lust.

……………………………………………………………………………………

 

“Ah! Ah! Ah!” he gripped soft blonde strands, praying.

 Despite having his hair feverishly pulled, the young man relaxed into the sensation, letting the punk fuck his throat mercilessly. Ash could have stopped it if he wanted, but he found it interesting that somebody who cared about him still got so lost in the sensation. It didn’t feel any different from Golzine fucking his throat and telling him how exceptional he was. The only difference is how he got here. He chose to give this to Shorter.

 

Shorter was close.

 

 

He stayed on until he choked and coughed. Some came out his nose and his eyes watered, he swallowed as much as he could before spitting and wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.

He grimaced and snorted at the cum in his nose, still coughing. “Well, this is a new experience. Geeze, Is this how much you normally make?” He retched what he did swallow back onto the ground.

“Sexy,” Shorter commented to cover up his own embarrassment.

Ash stuck out his tongue, the low light reflected off it’s wetness, “Do you want to kiss me now?”

They were so close. Ash was less than a foot away. It seemed rude to not kiss him after all of that… and he did like kissing Ash.

Ash spat a few more times and was childishly rubbing his tongue along the sleeve of his denim jacket when Shorter leaned over and met his mouth. He held the young man by the shoulders and leaned their chests together. Ash coaxed his mouth open, sticking his tongue inside.

It tasted awful. Salty and bitter. Carefully he pulled away, gazing at the other.

 

In the flickering light his iris’s looked red, like he might have been some kind of beast.

He could be driven mad by this kid. If Ash was just using him, leading him on…..

“I’m not playing with you, you know,” Ash said quietly, “You care about me. You’re my friend, I want to keep you around,”

“Friends don’t give friends blowjobs…….”Ash knew that,

The blonde avoided the other’s gaze, “I know…” He didn’t sound like he knew.

“Ash, did you even like it?”

“….Do you want me to like it?” Those cold eyes gave a playful smirk.

Shorter saw no joy behind the look.

 “I think this is the last time we can do this….”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally was going to be 3 parts, but I think it’s more conclusive to just have the first time and the last time. If I feel like adding more times later, I’ll add them as a series. Ch 3 is reserved for an afterword of sorts/character reflection.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried.

“I said I’m sorry, okay!!” Exasperated the blonde ruffled his own hair.

Shorter glowered at him.

“I’m taking you to Dr. Meredith’s now, so shut up,”

“Why didn’t you make me use a condom?”

“Because I didn’t feel like it that time! I didn’t think I had anything! Don’t yell at me Mr. Hates Rubbers,” Crossing his arms the blonde walked backwards down the block. “You act like this is the first time you’ve caught something,”

“It is!” Shorter complained.

“It’s just The Clap. You’ll live,”

“You don’t know that! What if I’ve got AID’s? I’m too young to die,”

Ash was losing patience with his friend’s drama. Shorter wasn’t blaming him per se, but he felt partly responsible.

“You can get AID’s from girls too you know,” There was no guarantee Shorter hadn’t gone out with one, but it was unlikely. There was usually gloating if he got some. “And AID’s doesn’t do _that_ ,”

“My sex life if ruined! I’m scarred for life. I may never be able to get it up again thinking of the weird stuff coming out of my dick,”

“You’ll be fine,” Ash knocked on the door of the back-alley office. After a moment’s delay of looking through the peephole, the nurse let him in.

…………………………………………………..

It cleared up after a run of antibiotics. He stopped complaining about condoms after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can take place between ch1 and 2 or can be after ch2. My preference is for it being after ch2, because I think Shorter and Ash would still talk/joke/communicate about their encounters.
> 
> Shorter is trying to be responsible, he really is.


	4. Reciprocity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shorter wants to give Ash something in return. Ash isn't used to accepting pleasure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've thought 'Fling' was done months ago, but this idea invaded my head. This was never meant to be a 5K chapter, I'm bad at knowing how long a fic will be before I do it. I didn't think Shorter/Ash had anything more to say to each-other, but I guess I was wrong. Debated posting this as a 'stand alone' story. 
> 
> Might be a classic case of "I should have proofread this more", but this is the world of fan-fiction. I am my own editor. ...I still need to update my Blanca+Ash 'Feelings of Loneliness' to have one more scene..... ungh!  
> Special thanks to Devil's Circle for encouraging me. 
> 
> I’m writing 80’s BF, but listening to a lot of Convolk if you want background music.

Reciprocity

 

                They said this wouldn’t happen again.

It was a normal night in Shorter’s apartment above the Chang Dai. He’d ‘ran away’ from Dino’s again. He’d just had his birthday and the older man had showered him with gifts he didn’t want to receive. The sweet age of sixteen. His leash would be reeled in soon. He’d been gone three days that was about his limit…. They knew where he was. Somebody would drag him home soon.

But Shorter’s apartment felt more like home than that place, even more so than his real home. He laughed soberly, no real ‘home’ had ever been this welcoming.

Cracked linoleum floor, constantly smelling of soggy rice, but a place with good feeling. His real home back in Cape Cod had never been anything like this. Even when Griff was home it felt empty in that little house. Something was missing; the world needed to exist as more than just the two of them in that little hutch by the sea.

                The world here in Chinatown was more, despite that this apartment was less than a third the size of the Cod house and they were watching mindless TV. Tonight reminded Ash of the music EP Shorter was obsessed with a year ago, ‘Black Flag’s TV Party.’ “We’ve got nothing better to do, than watch TV and have a couple of booze.” He chuckled, genuine this time.

Shorter was always so energetic…..until he wasn’t, which is why Ash was currently in the kitchenette perusing the cupboards. His friend stretched and sprawled across the couch, moaning about the motivation of moving and the greater problem of not having a ‘snack shelf’ within reach. Elaborating on this grand proposal and the reasons as to why it should happen, and “Thank you Ash, you’re a life saver man.” The Asian boy shot him a peace sign as he got up to appease his friend’s bitching.

                “You’re not even high,” Ash complained. Shorter nodded, but refused to move from his seat, “If I was high, I would have planned this better. Or the munchies would give me the motivation.”

Ash exhaled sharply and dug through the mostly bare shelves. Some cans of soup, half a bag of chips that turned out to be stale, some instant ramen, a few slices of white bread in a twisted bag, sugary cereal. No real ‘munchies’. Most of the food was downstairs, and most days they ate from the restaurant.

Even when he and Griff lived alone the shelves weren’t this bare. Jim and his girlfriends made sure they were fed at least. When he first ran away though, he was hungry all the time. Marvin didn’t give a rat’s ass about him. They didn’t feed him because he was ‘working’ today.

He still had that habit of monitoring what he ate….

…………………………………………

He must have been digging a while.

“I’m coming up behind you,” Shorter announced casually. A precaution now, after getting a reflex elbow to the face once. Ash mumbled an acknowledgement, and continued digging. He could use some of the money from Dino to help buy groceries. His sixteenth birthday had given him much more than typical, more than enough to pay for Griff’s care at Dr. Meredith’s.

Now, how to give the money without Nadia knowing?

Shorter reached over his shoulder, above his head, pulling down a box of cheese snacks, setting it on the counter. Body warm against Ash’s back. He lingered for a moment.

“Can I touch you?” Open ended question stirred the air.

“Yes?” Ash was tentative, Shorter normally didn’t ask, he just came barging in with affection whether or no Ash was ready for it. Hugs, noogies, arms around his shoulder…

“Um,” Shorter swallowed around the lump in this throat, “…….Sexually,”

Ash paused, processing the question. “Uhhh…. Yeah, sure. I don’t care,”

They’d messed around before, but it was mainly Ash ‘driving’. Shorter hadn’t asked or initiated anything.

Ash absentmindedly shuffled stuff around on the counter, Shorter’s body corralled him against the fixture. He didn’t _hate_ it. It was acceptable. Doing things with Shorter didn’t make him feel used and dirty. He could always tell Shorter ‘no’. And on the odd chance Shorter didn’t listen, giving the other a punch to the face or kick to the balls were viable options. No loss to him if the other didn’t forgive him. He didn’t live here. Shorter didn’t pay his bills. He could live without Shorter…

Being here was only nice because Shorter was ‘nice’.

 “I’ve been thinking,” His tall friend murmured.

“That’s dangerous,” Ash kept his gaze on the empty shelves, but it was a playful jab. Shorter wrapped his arms around the slight boy’s torso.

                “Do you ever get anything out of it?” The voice was above his ear, “I don’t think I’ve made you come once, and that’s not cool, man.” Hand trailed down to the front of his jeans, fumbling with the zipper.

Shorter noticed the body in his arms tense, quivering with heartbeat.

                “Why do you care? You don’t want to touch my dick,”

“I don’t mean to make this weird,”

“You’ve had your fingers up my ass. Do what you want.” The counter was in front of Ash’s hips, his friend’s body behind his back.

Shorter felt his cheeks tingle at the memory of the warm slippery velvet enveloping his fingers, greedy for more. He wanted to know how much his friend could take; just for science of course.

Honestly.

The blood rush tingled to lower regions thinking about that greedy pink hole; how well it took him in. If it was a pussy, he would have licked it. Made out with his friend between his legs. Holding Ash’s thighs open, drawing small moans out of that straining body as he lapped sensitive skin and flexed his fingers. Getting juices all over his face…. Slick dripping down his fingers, making them glossy..

Unfortunately, Ash was a man. And a friend.. …..A friend who sucked his dick sometimes unannounced, and offered to be fucked like a bitch…. It made Shorter uncomfortable but incredibly horny. He wished he knew how this started. The Ash he met in juvie would only offer these things with an ulterior motive. Though, he was proud to notice Ash had changed a bit since then. Maybe this had changed too.

He groped his friend’s crotch.  Slight bulge against his palm, filling his hand. The cotton of his briefs was soft.  Skin warm and soft too. Intoxicating. Ash wasn’t hard yet…..

Ash braced his hands against the fixture and leaned back against him, coyly looking up. Green eyes sparkling in the yellow light. The opposite of Shorter’s own dark brown.

Sharp and cutting gaze.

Shorter stroked and prodded his friend’s maleness with clumsy fingers. The corner of Ash’s mouth twitched. Jeans brushed Shorter’s interested crotch….

“You just wanna jerk me off while you rub against my ass? I don’t see what’s in it for me,” The defensive devilish persona, teasing. His hard-on had been discovered.

“I’m trying to get you off. You don’t like me rubbing against your ass?” Carefully he undid the button on Ash’s jeans and brushed a thumb over the elastic. Hesitant. Unsure. Thumb over soft hair…. The bulge in his hand twitched.

“I’m good at this angle,” _It’s just like rubbing myself, right? This isn’t bad._

He breathed in Ash’s scent. City dirt, pizza grease, the lingering scent of cologne that Shorter had never seen him wear….

Ash was still watching him, uncomfortably close…. He used his free hand to push the intruding face away. A playful clumsy grab breaking the tension and urging sharp eyes to look anywhere else. His own face was warm. His palms were shaking.

He inhaled and pulled down his friend’s waistband.

Shorter hadn’t touched him yet. He was still working up the courage.

 “You’re good at this angle? I don’t know if I’d admit that,” Ash chuckled, “You’re alone a lot?”

“You know where I have and haven’t been. I tell you,”

“You brag, but I don’t know if half of it is true,” Ash kept a straight face even when his body was slowly becoming interested.

“You’ve met some of the girls. They exist,”

A snort, “Those girls will get with anyone,”

“So will you,” The comment wasn’t meant to bite, but Ash recoiled.

….it was just the first thing that came into his head.

He licked his palm and wrapped it around Ash’s length. He was welcomed with a small sound.

Barely a gasp. A small reaction of disbelief. He tightened his grip. Tensing and untensing, getting his friend to full hardness. He applied pressure underneath the head, testing with another finger for pre-come to help friction.

 Ash pressed back into his hips. Glutes teasing either side of his own bulge. “I’m not impressed. I don’t see why you were bragging, you’re not that great.”

“You’re too short,” Shorter swallowed, “Let’s go to the couch,” His own face was burning. No matter how many times he did this with Ash, it didn’t feel right. A strange mix of arousal and guilt.

Every single time.

But it was still arousing….

                It wasn’t horrible, if that made sense. There was just this layer of something that wasn’t right. He didn’t know where it came from or what to do about it. This was supposed to be fun. There was no reason….

 

….

 

                The TV was still crackling. Ash was seated between his legs, bony spine leaning back into his chest. Shorter had first gestured for him to sit on his lap, but Ash looked skeptical.

“I’m not a kid,” he’d replied, before tapping Shorter to spread his legs.

The body was warm. He couldn’t see what he was doing as well from this perspective and the white light from the TV blew out his vision, but all the better. Touching a man was different…. Something he’d never done before.

He let his hand drift lower. Back over the erection, and lower. _I like it when I’m touched here._

“You shave down here?” Surprise. There was a thin patch of blonde pubes, but nothing farther down. Ash got defensive.

“Nobody wants hair in their mouth,”

He cupped and played with the delicate organs. Ash was mostly still, only slight movements. He went back to stroking his cock.

 

Ash was tense.

He stroked his hand against the thin slick organ. He ached, carnal urge threatening to overcome him. The need to be closer… The impulse to touch more. He stopped stroking and gripped around it, dragging his friend farther back on to him. 

He kissed the back of Ash’s neck. Soft blonde strands tickled his face.

“Turn around,” A gentle request.

“You need to let go of my dick first,”

“I’m not going to be as good if we do it this way, but I want to look at you.”

Ash nodded, simply a response. If anything, a careful expression; making sure he complied to what was ordered. Shorter detected no blushing in the low light.

It didn’t sit right with him.

Ash got up, pulling his pants fully off, reaching for Shorter’s cock, not yet removing his underwear. The older boy waved him away.

“No, not like that. Just kiss me. I told you this was about you,”

Almost laughing. “I don’t want to kiss you, you don’t brush your teeth,”

“You don’t honestly like that, do you?”

“It can be okay sometimes. Depends on who I’m with,”

Ash leaned forward, body brushing. Graceful neck extending so cold soft lips met his, tongue prying it’s way forward. Wrestling with what it met.

Shorter moaned into his mouth, small pale hands scrabbled against thin stubble that was only allowed to grow in for a joke.

He threaded his hands into fine blonde hair, fluffy like a young animal or…. Something. He had few comparisons. It’s not like he was well versed in luxury.

The young man slid forward, straddling him. Their bodies fit close. Their crotches brushed, creating delicious friction. A different kind of heat than he was used to pressing against, but not unpleasant.

He needed to lean up into the blonde.

He felt the sinewy frame in his hands. Bony ribs that were harsh against his fingers. Slim shoulders. Angel face. All this, and still one of the most dangerous people he knew. Dangerous, but always so sad….

_You should feel good too…_

“Can I pull your shirt up?”

“I don’t care,” A dead response. He could have said anything….

“I don’t care’ doesn’t make me feel confident,”

“I agreed,”

“Ok, good. Now, tell me what you want,”

Ash shifted. Eyes dilate, a slight heartrate increase.

_Good, he’s getting turned on._

“Can I? Would you like that?”

“…..yes….” A quiet yes, but still a ‘yes’.

He rumpled the white t-shirt, pulling the hem and neckline together into a hold. It revealed smoothness and pink areole tantalizingly veiled by the cotton, peaking out when the boy moved just right.

He sucked a pink nub into his mouth. Hands on sinewy pectoral muscles. Heart was pounding in his hand. Only the slightest hint of fat creating a teasing softness.

He slurped and bit. The boy spasmed on top of him.

Ash smelled of the cheap soap Nadia bought.

He pulled him closer, nose bumping sternum.

 “I’m not a girl, you know,” The voice above him announced. Bitter, childish.

Shorter laughed into Ash’s skinny chest, jerking the cock in his hand. “Obviously. If you were, you have the biggest clit I’ve ever seen,”

Ash was flushed and arched up into the movement. He whined. “Why are you sucking my tits then,”

“I like when girls play with my chest, I thought you would too,”

They were still on the couch. Ash on his lap. TV whirring, the only thing lighting up the room. Angel silhouetted against the grey light. Unearthly, haunting.

‘Be not afraid,’ isn’t that what the angels said?

 

_He’s a human. Just like anyone else. He can’t just give and never take._

 

His friends lips met his again.

Shorter stroked him. Thin cock slick with spit and pre-come. Underwear still on. His own erection ignored except for the rubbing from his lap.

It was a frustrating rubbing.

“God! I wanna fuck you!” He gripped his friend’s ass. It was so round and plush. The skin was smooth…. He grabbed handfuls of it. Ash made a small sound of acknowledgement.

“Then fuck me,” The line was breathless but flat. Shorter didn’t want to think about why. He sped up his pace on Ash’s cock.

“Nah, this is about you,”

“Then you should suck me,” Mischievous, looking for a rise. That was better.

Shorter grimaced, “I tasted it last time. Not really my thing,”

“I don’t like sucking dick, and I do it,”

Shorter shook his head, “No, the taste of cum isn’t for me,”

“Well, I want you to lick it,” Pushing boundaries.

“Sorry, not interested,” He kept it a lighthearted joke. _Maybe later. Let me think about it. It doesn’t seem pleasant. I haven’t really ever wanted to…_

He didn’t know how much Ash actually wanted it, and how much he just wanted to see is Shorter would. When they first met, he made a lot of requests like that; they were tests. In the first few months Shorter learned. He would do them in his own time if Ash’s want persisted. Sometimes wanting to do it for Ash overrode technically not wanting to it. -That’s how finding subordinates worked.

These things didn’t require sex though.

“You’re really mean, you know that?” Shorter sighed into the mouth, neck craned. His lips were so soft. Cold, but smooth, wet, erotic. No brush of facial hair whatsoever. He liked kissing Ash. He wished he had more opportunities to just make out. His friends body against his. Smooth and thin. See where it took them.

But Ash was always so urgent. He had a hard time calming down.

“I’m mean,” He gasped between breaths, “But I’m good. Gives me a reputation. I’m worth twenty grand a night you know. I can’t believe you’re not taking up that offer to fuck me,”

Shorter laughed, “Nobody has that kind of money, even if your butt is that good,”

Ash was silent for a moment. “You haven’t tried me,” Shorter only knew the bare minimum, and it was probably best to keep it that way. He thought Dino was just a sugar daddy to his pretty little runaway self.

“If you made twenty grand a night, you wouldn’t be fucking old men,”

“What if I told you I make twenty grand a night by fucking old men _?” ….and I see some return on it too, in a way._ In the form of gifts and ‘allowances’…..

“Then sign me up for a gig. What’s a little dignity compared to twenty-grand?”

The men in charge of him took all the money. Often he never even saw it. He tried lifting a fifty from a fat stack when he was eleven…he was caught and beaten.

Shorter noticed the younger went quiet.

“Oh…. Sorry,” Sometimes he forgot his friend actually did …. _that_ … That he wasn’t just messing around, whether or not he made the money he said he did. That it wasn’t the joke they played it off as.

“You always talk so much, why don’t you ever just fuck me?” Ash lay groaning against his lap. That butt was so soft, yet shapely, springy firm. He wrapped an arm around his skinny friend ground himself against, speeding up the movement of his hand.

He signed, this was a good angle. Too good. He pinched a pink nipple and received a squeak.

Fuck, this was too hot. He was going to come before Ash did, the way Ash was wriggling against him. His friend had a great body…..

He couldn’t help but grab that ass again. It felt so good in his hand. He spat in his hand, adding lubricant to the cock poking against his belly. He bit a sensitive nipple, pulling the man closer. He needed him closer.

“Tell me what you want,” He murmured, “Do you want more?” the heart under his mouth was erratic, the body above him tight. 

_Good, he’s getting close too._

He thrust up against the soft body. Skinny hands braced against his knees, torso convulsing and arcing away from his mouth.

Whines.

He bounced his hips, moving the man on top of him. “You like that? Does that feel good?”

Hands on his knees tightened. The tv kept flickering. A laugh track played against the static. What channel were they even watching anyways?

He pulled that ass closer to him, ground it down on him. His cock strained against his zipper.

Ash’s heart was pounding. He reached up and kissed his neck, sucking, too turned on to acknowledge if he was leaving a mark. Soft hair brushed his face, catching his stubble. His stubble scratched the other’s neck….

Ash’s breathing was fast. His voice was high pitched.

He fumbled with his own fly, pulling his member free, wrapping his hand around the both of them. Ash was dripping.

Despite their miniscule age gap, Ash was significantly smaller than him. He swiped his thumb over their slits, mixing their pre-come.

Ash was shaking.

 _Good._ Shorter was also trembling with want.

“I really like you, you know that? You’re just like an angel. How did I get to be so lucky?”

Heavy breathing as a response.

“You’re beautiful,”

Green eyes flew open, but they were distant. An expression suited for horrors of another place.

The body on top of him shoved him. He jerked back at the force, shoulder blades hitting the couch. Small body that had been so receptive, now prickling with deadly energy.

Ash vaulted off his lap, grabbing his jeans off the coffee table. He darted toward the bathroom and slamming the door behind him.

It was so fast, Shorter couldn’t follow. The haze of arousal dampening his senses.

He sat baffled, TV still making sounds that didn’t at all fit with the scene. He chewed his tongue, and brought a hand to his face, recalling the brush of the other boy’s lips… It had been real hadn’t it? Ash had agreed, right?

The clatter of the cheap wood against the doorframe was still ringing in his ears.

The only thing that was processing in his head was ‘that wasn’t an arousal response’.

This wasn’t normal.

He clambered after, tripping over his undone pants. It was only a few yards to the bathroom.

He knocked on the door.

“Ah…. do you need a smoke?” He called, hesitantly.

“No! I don’t fucking need a smoke!” A quick response.

“Your pills are in the cabinet in there. You know, your anit-anxiety stuff-!”

“-I’m not sick! I don’t want my pills!!” Anger.

Shorter paused. Anything, anything to help. Anything to get his friend talking, “Do you want a sandwich?!”

A muffled scream of frustration, “I don’t need a fucking sandwich, Shorter! Leave me ALONE! I DON’T FEEL GOOD,”

 “You’re not gonna like cut yourself and bleed out in my bathroom, are ya?” Humor, maybe? He hoped he was going for humor, but he was genuinely worried. Sometimes Ash flew off the handle…… Some of his other friends had done similar….

An exasperated exhale, “You know, I don’t fucking do that!”

“Just making sure!”

Ash didn’t tend to have freak-outs like this. Most of the time he just got quiet. Calculating, cold, and when he was anxious he handled it better than this.

Shorter felt like he might have been the problem. He had asked, Ash had agreed. He didn’t understand the issue.

He decided to leave Ash alone. Trust his friend to know what he needed.

But Ash had weird things he was rational about…..

He settled back on the couch and tried to watch TV. He mindlessly flipped through channels….

 

 

Nadia came upstairs a while later. Exhausted from another day, she rubbed her face on the back of her hand and reached for the handle of the bathroom door. Nightly shower.

 

 

“Ash is locked in the bathroom, don’t do that,”

She paused at the door handle, face distorting into her exasperated ‘what did you do?’ pitifully accusatory, sympathetic look, but overall tired.

Shorter pouted, shrugging, and held up his hands. He didn’t honestly know. One minuet they were fine, the next Ash had jerked away from him and sprinted to solitude without a word.  Cheap metal lock turning and grinding, clicking closed.

“Ash,” Nadia knocked and called through the door, “I have leftovers from the restaurant if you want some,”

Shorter huffed. “He’s not an animal, you can’t lure him out with food,”

She ignored her brother, “There’s shrimp stir-fry left, let me know if you want some. Shorter can heat it up, I’ll be in my room. I hope you’re feeling better,”

Ash didn’t answer.

She  made a clicking noise at her brother, “Food lures you out, it’s worth a shot.” She placed her hand carefully on the door frame, “So you heard me, there’s food downstairs. There’s also still dishes from the dinner rush, I would appreciate if you did them,”

Shorter made an empty agreement to do them later.

 

………..

 

He didn’t know how long Ash stayed in the bathroom.

 

When he heard the latch again, he had nearly dozed off on the couch. TV flickering in the background, illuminating the dark room.

Ash silently approached him and sat down, casually picking up the remote changing the channel, lowering the volume.

Shorter stirred at the pressure on the couch. He shook himself awake and turned to his friend.

They sat in silence for a while, not touching. Eyes transfixed on the glowing box, but not intently watching.

 

Shorter broke the silence, like always.

“Thank you for not hitting me,” He rolled his tongue in his mouth, not quite sure how to word it. Whatever happened was probably his fault, and he felt guilty for it.

Ash stared back at him puzzled before a slow realization of hurt…. “Y-you thought I would hit you?”

Shorter shrugged,

“I…. I wouldn’t do that to you. I-I thought you knew,”

“I’ve seen you do it to other guys when they’re doing something you don’t like,”

“I’m not going to hit you when I can’t control myself,” He looked like he wanted to offer a hand in comfort, as an apology.

“I’m glad. Can you talk with me and tell me when things aren’t good though? I just…. I care about you man, and you worry me,”

A deadpan response, “That’s so gay, Shorter,” He crossed his arms, mocking.

“You’re gay,” A playful jab, not a statement towards the petite blonde.

“You’re the one who had his hands all over my dick.”

He manhandled the blonde into a hug. Elbows, shoulders, knees and squirming didn’t make it comfortable, but the challenge made it rewarding. Ash wouldn’t have allowed if he didn’t have some level of comfort with Shorter.

The petite boy settled into his arms, frail against his chest. Relief that things pass. It would be bad again. They would slip back into high-strung emotions and everyday life, but little moments like this made it worth it. These were shooting stars, stunning and brief. Still worth looking for. 

 

A gentle elbow to his side drew him out of his thoughts.

“So… are you going to do the dishes?” A playful grab for power.

Revived from his thoughts, he mumbled back, “What the fuck, you’re not my mother,”

“Nadia sounded tired, you should help,” slim finger hovering around his face, critical.

“You should help, she feeds you,”

“Sure” a kiss was placed to his jawline, “You want me to only wear an apron?”

He fought back the flush on his cheeks. It’s true, he hadn’t gotten off yet…. “Ah…. No. I’m done for tonight,”

…………………………………….

Downstairs they splashed water at each other. Rubber gloves and brushes scraping soggy food off of well used ceramic, before putting it in dishwater. Wash. Rinse. Bleach soak. Hang on the rack to dry. Put away when the rack was full.

Repetitive, boring, disgusting work. He hated every minute of it. He made Ash do the worst of the bussing in exchange for being the one to take out the trash.

They were almost done. Everything had been washed, they just needed to mop.

Shorter was pulling the mop water into the dining area when…..

“Aren’t you going to finish what you started,” Ash unzipped his pants and presented himself, pulling the apron aside. He was sitting on the table of one of the booths.

The blinds were drawn, the sign spun to ‘closed’. The restaurant around them was empty.

Still a public space.

Despite the hour, there were still a few noises outside.

New York is the city that never sleeps…

The thrill went straight to his groin. “Please don’t be like this with me,”

“We’re cleaning up anyways,”

“I want to fuck you so bad and I don’t think I should be wanting this,” He wrung out the mop and avoided eye contact with Ash. He began vigorously scrubbing the floor.

“Why shouldn’t you be wanting it?” The boy had spread his legs and was swinging his feet in an almost childlike manner. Hard-on visible under the apron.

“Because you’re my friend, and this is making things weird,” He re-soaked the mop with water before sloshing it on the floor.

“Everybody else wants it,”

He sighed, “Please help me work,” He shifted to hide his shame boner.

“I like to feel desired,”

“I told you I wanted to make you feel good and you ran away,” He leaned on the mop before returning to work, “I think you’ve got some shit you need to sort out with that,” He wasn’t cleaning that forcefully, no. He just wanted to be done quicker.

 

“I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t like it,”

“Then you can fucking tell me you ‘didn’t like it’ instead of scaring the Jesus outta me. You can disagree you know. You disagree about so many other things I don’t know why this is different,”

It sounded harsher than he meant it, but he felt satisfaction when the boy flinched. _Good, actually listen to me this time._

 

Ash jumped down from the tabletop and strode over to him. Shorter was half worried he was going to get punched.

Ash danced around his flinching.

Cupping the Chinese boy’s face, he nearly pouted, “Will you jerk me off?”

He shuddered at the contact. This reaction to his friend still made his stomach turn. “Do you want to?”

“Yes,”

“Are you sure you want to?”

“Yes,”

“You’re not just doing this because I want to?”

“God! Just shut up and touch me already! Jeeze!”

He couldn’t help laughing, “That’s the guy I know,”

……………………………………….

He fucked Ash while bending over one of the main tables.

Well, ‘fucked’ wasn’t exactly the right word. They frotted their way to completion. They mostly kept their clothes on. He stroked his friend.

Soft hair tickled his face as he jostled the body underneath him.

Ash had pulled his jeans down enough for Shorter to press between his legs. Soft thighs on either side of his member….

He jerked Ash to completion and the sound Ash made would forever stay in his memory.

He wasn’t loud, but the soft groan, almost a squeak was endearing.

His hand was covered with sticky fluid that wasn’t his own. He breathed the other’s neck as the body collapsed against the table. He felt proud of himself.

…………………….

They finished mopping a short while later. Mop water cold and grey now that the bubbles had settled. He was never good at keeping his mouth shut….

“So, hey… uh, Do you want to be my boyfriend?”

Ash snorted, an almost laugh, “You don’t even like guys,”

Shorter’s nose crinkled, “We did all that and that’s your excuse? ‘I don’t even like…”

“I have Dino,” The words were breathy but sharp. Reality was settling.

Reality always began setting in once the hormones settled.

 

 

“If you have him, why are you doing this with me?”

Ash shrugged on his hoodie, “It doesn’t matter does it?”

“I just want to know,”

Ash re-laced one of his sneakers. “I thought you’d like it,”

“I don’t want it to be just about me!” Shorter called as the back door clattered shut.

_That’s what today was about….. I wanted you to be happy too…_

 

 

………………………………….

Nearly a year later their dynamic had shifted yet again.

“You like him, don’t you?”

“Yeah, he doesn’t want anything from me. It’s a nice change,”

 “If I had refused when you came onto me, would you have said ‘yes’ to me?”

It took Ash a while to answer. Shorter didn’t know if he was thinking hard about it, or trying not to think about it.

“Maybe,” Is the answer his friend settled on. “It’s in the past now. It doesn’t matter,” When he turned to Shorter again, he replied, “Why? Are you jealous?” Cocky glint in the corner of his eye.

“No,” Shorter didn’t even need to think on it. “You should see how happy you look with him. You gonna ask him to be your boyfriend?”

A bitter no. “He can’t survive in my world.”

“Ah,” he shook his head knowingly. “So you’re just going to watch him from a distance then?”

“I think so. I want to see where it takes me,”

“Are you ever going to shag him?”

Ash nearly choked on his drink, “What? No! No! I couldn’t do something like that to him,”

Shorter leaned closer and carefully put his hand on Ash’s elbow, a sign of pity maybe. “You know, it doesn’t always need to be like… an exchange or whatever you think of it. You don’t owe anyone anything by having sex with them. They’re not giving you anything either if they want it too. Like, I think it’s just supposed to be fun and stuff. ….Like…..When we used to mess around, I just wanted it to be fun,”

“I don’t think everyone thinks of it like you, Shorter,”

                This was the first and only time they acknowledged feelings about the subject.

“Is there anything wrong with thinking like me?”

Ash chewed on his straw, contemplating.

“…No. I just don’t think most people do,”

 

 

……………………………………………

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me on  
> https://twitter.com/FishboneLynx  
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/trashayfanfiction  
> https://curiouscat.me/TrashAYfanfiction
> 
> 'Fling' is now my longest fic XD I love Shorter Wong. Ultimate bro with benefits.

**Author's Note:**

> Fic has a high potential for coming off as ‘sex is bad’, that is not my intention. I enjoy doing character studies of Ash and how he might relate to sex. Also, Shorter needs more love. 
> 
> I'm so happy this fandom is growing. My next few fics should involve Shorter or Blanca. If they cut Blanca out of the anime I might cry. I love big Russian dad so much.


End file.
